The second generation Pebble sports a colour e-paper display (sourced from a Tokyo company), a new design, a new Timeline feature, all while retaining up to seven days of battery life, set to debut for $199 USD.

Pebble noted yesterday at 10:32AM EST, the project hit $1 million in funding, making it the fastest Kickstarter project to do so in history (the project launched at 9:44AM EST). At 2:26PM EST, the project eclipsed $5 million, surpassing the previous record held by the Coolest Cooler, which hit that milestone in 7 days.

While the Pebble Time may not be for everyone, it’s backed by a Canadian CEO who is taking on the Apple Watch and Android Wear. With a month left to go, this project surely will break more Kickstarter records.

Share & comment

Battery life is the killer feature. Price is their next best seller. The resolution puts me off a bit. It’s also not highly attractive, though neither is the Apple Watch. If they made this in a round display and kept the price low, I could get on board and worry about the resolution later.

They’re focussing on what we know smart watches can improve, information at a glance. Google and Apple are trying to incorporate all kinds of screen bling when the battery technology doesn’t exist to support it. They’re also priced at a point that would make me feel stupid to opt in too. I’m watching this one closely.

Dingleberry

I back it, then quickly unbacked it. That watch face it roughly 50% screen. That means it’s also 50% bezel. The more I looked at it, the more it looks like a toy. I’ll wait for gen 2.